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Very few True “Guitar Slingers” exist today. At the same time, there has never been more Wal-Mart guitarists on the planet. Most fall into the “not bad” category. Many fall into the proficient/extraordinary category. But both the not bad and proficient to exceptional lack what it takes to be a guitar slinger. Impressing yourself with a five minute solo is the easy part.

What makes a True “Guitar Slinger”?

Today’s Guitar Slinger’s include but are not limited to:

Dave Edmunds

Brian Setzer

Todd Rundgren

Ace Andres

Trevor Rabin

There exist 3 types of guitarists:
1. The Guitar Slinger: He sings lead; However, plays guitar better than most.

2. The Singer who plays guitar. His guitar skills are negligible. (Think John Fogerty)

3. The Guitar Alien. (See Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani) their guitar performance is spoiled by the mere presence of vocals.

Your guitar playing should set you apart from those who have done their homework and play “rehearsed” solos. When the Guitar Slinger plays, He takes the audience to the far side of the galaxy in which the Slinger never imagined he could go. To quote Pete Townsend; “The guitar is at its’ best when it is slightly out of control.” The term, “Astral Traveling” comes to mind. If you’ve rehearsed your basic scales for hours, you can get to that point of the:

“Out of body experience”

Once you get to that point; remember this, it’s not you. Perhaps the highest accolades I’ve ever received, and theses weren’t one off comments; but many owners of establishments commented that when I solo, I seem to be in another dimension. “He looks like he’s left his body”. The question: “How does he just throw his head back and solo? “ Is not uncommon. Personally, (and stick with me) I think the music has a soul of its own and if you’re good enough and you allow it to; you become (As Eric Clapton said about SRV) a conduit for the sound of the music. It’s like giving birth to the music. Playing “Eruption” or “Cliffs of Dover” is an accomplishment, yet so is working on an assembly line, that’s not what the Guitar Slinger does. The truth is, the Slinger never knows what he’s going to do. My solos have become random pieces of subconscious recall.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying don’t practice or rehearse. I’m saying practice to command your guitar until it becomes a living part of your body. It gets mad when you refer to it as an instrument or even an extension of your body; rather an equal part of your body. Your guitar wants to go out of its body with you on your out of body experience. Respect your guitar like a Major league Pitcher holds a baseball. He holds it like an egg. When you’re done with your guitar, put it back in its case or its womb. How dare you let a drunk knock it over.

The Alpha Musician

It’s not an issue of control. It’s an issue of leadership. In the big band days and even today orchestras need conductors. That’s the Guitar Slinger. A good Alpha Musician will give the other musicians the respect and acknowledgment they need. You never want to hear: “Who the fuck does he think he is”? Instead; if you come together like a synergistic organism, your bass and drummer are going to anticipate the unanticipated. I have video where I can see myself looking back at the drummer and giving him a wink because we both knew the song would sound better with an accent at a certain spot. A tight band with a strong leader will communicate telepathically after a while.

Lastly ~ Singing

Let me quote Jimi Hendrix: “I liked the Idea that guys like Bob Dylan could be successful and not have to be the best singers”. Jimi’s biggest hit, (believe it or not) was not Purple Haze, rather “All along the watchtower”.

Let me quote the musician that penned the song “Old Time Rock and Roll: “Yeah I took six years of my life trying to play guitar. No! I wasted six years of my life trying to play guitar. ~ Bob Segar

Let me quote Joe Satriani when asked by Guitar Player Magazine why his album “Surfing with the Alien” was an instrumental album. Joe replied: “Oh I can sing, but just listen to this”. He then played a beautiful instrumental part of his new album. (Sans vocals).

There you have it. A response from one of the GREATEST Guitar Slingers ever ~ Jimi Hendrix. A regret from the singer and writer of the Iconic song “Old Fashion Rock and Roll confessing he wasted time trying to be a “Guitar Slinger” ~ Bob Segar. Finally, a response from a Guitar Virtuoso who thought his music would be ruined by adding vocals ~ Joe Satriani. As you can see, the Guitar Slinger today, more than ever, has become an anomaly.

If you were a blues guitarist, you weren’t if you couldn’t sing and play (Throw down). Just die, go to music heaven and ask BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Healy, Gary Moore, Robert Johnson and Johnny Winter. If you really want to know if you’re worthy of the “Guitar Slinger” moniker; try and entertain an audience while playing “Scat”.

I realized I was doing a lot of bible thumping the last week or so. I don’t know why. So I figured I’d turn you on to this video about NDERs that didn’t have the warm fuzzy feeling of the tunnel and the white light. It’s a good watch. Amazing stories (Wondrous Stories) and you’ll know that you can always come here to find it. It’s called To Hell and Back. (Not to be confused with the Audie Murphy story)

10. CAMERAS on Cell phones. The phone is a nice safety feature especially while traveling and you need to call your auto club to change a tire. And of course quick access to 911.

9. OBAMACARE What are insurance companies going to do after the party is over? I will not miss the $6000.00 deductible.

8. TSAstrip searches and exposure to radiation. We need to learn from Israel. We need to interview more 20 year old jihadists and less 80 year old white ladies.

7. Government Corruption yes, the IRS and homeland security should be hit with RICO laws. (Racketeering influenced Corrupt Organizations) This would also include political PACs. A financial fund that is allowed to support certain candidates. It’s a slap in the face of a law that limits individual contributions to $2,700.00 per individual. This was a great Idea in an attempt to keep elections from being “bought”. Political PACs have no restrictions so “Big Money” is allowed to influence (There’s that word again) your vote. In 2009 the head of the SEIU, Andy Stern was asked while entering the White House: “What are you here for today?” His response was: “I’m here to collect on a deal”.

6. $3.00 Coffee – How many years did we drink coffee out of the can? I wonder how much a shot of espresso is in Italy. All Starbucks did was gave Folger’s a chance to increase the price of “non-premium” coffee.

5. Political Correctness – Just look at Donald Trump and ask yourself why he’s so popular? I think consciously hurting someone’s feelings is wrong. Today the word Black can label you a racist. I think you have to use the term “African American”. So get it straight “Whitey”.

4. Electric Cars – Sure I’m for alternative energy but don’t you have to pay for Electricity? (which has an effect on the environment as well) Fossil fuel is like cancer. There are companies that have too much to lose should it be done away with. Think of the Million dollar scanners that would not get sold if something like “Aloe Vera” cured cancer? GE would not let that happen.

3. Millions of Taxpayer dollars being wasted on “Global Warming”. Most hydrocarbons do not come from semi-trucks on the road. A majority comes from active volcanoes and methane comes from your dinner. Get rid of subsidies for corn as a fuel. Not only is it a waist of taxes but it has raised the price of meat. Talk to me when you can explain what melted the last two Ice ages. Let me know when China and Russia are willing to show some concern.

2. RAP/Kanye West – Sports used to be the dream for underachievers but that required a high level of discipline such as Jerry Rice demonstrated. Jerry Rice was every 49er rookie’s worst nightmare. Not many athletes were as dedicated to such a strict workout routine as Rice. (Even when Jerry Rice was at the top of his game). San Francisco paid big money for future replacements for Jerry Rice and most of them faded away out of frustration of trying to keep up with the greatest athlete in sports.

Then spewing filth to a drum machine became much easier and attractive. Rap is not poetry, it’s more of a “jingle.” It doesn’t need to be clever. The more crude it is the better. It started in the 20th century, but gained legitimacy when Run DMC did a version of “Walk this way” with Aerosmyth. Soon, music was optional, then a beat was optional then it morphed into filthy loudmouth rants that degrade women and appeal to those who can’t speak a sentence with 2 syllable words.

1. SOCIALISM & Barack Hussein Obama – The United States has been fighting a battle of socialism for 7.5 years now. An argument can be made that it actually started in 2004. Not only are we fighting against a socialist president, but in a Hitleresque fashion, we’re fighting socialist professors in expensive colleges. It’s no wonder the socialist, Bernie Sanders is campaigning for free college. (You get what you pay for, or should)

The current administration embraces taking money from achievers and giving it to under-achievers. I’m not talking about social security as that was a government imposed retirement account. It was a Ponzi scheme as it was designed to pay off 10 years after the average lifespan of the average American. So when it started, they calculated that pay offs would be rare. (Assuming you would be dead). Socialism is a guise for communism. The only difference is socialism gives you the illusion of freedom. Communism uses the power of totalitarianism. Do it or die. By the way; Communism and Socialism have failed in every country trying to impose it.

When Harry Met Sally. 1989. Yeah, I can hear you hurling obscenities at me right now. Meg Ryan could have made this list for Sleepless in Seattle as well. Nora Ephron tends to add the Holidays in her movies. I chose Meg’s performance in “Harry met Sally” because the movie frequents the Holiday. Harry, played by Billy Crystal (of Jewish persuasion) is always helping Meg Ryan with her Christmas tree in the snow. They have an annual New Year’s party they both go to during the movie and the movie ends with Sally dragging her own Christmas tree by herself and pretending to be happy at the New Year’s party with some doctor. And since we’re taking static segments of time, we will consider how Meg Ryan looked in 1989 versus what she has done to herself recently with awful, let me repeat awful plastic surgery.

4

Kristin Holby

Trading Places 1983. This was a hard decision. (Excuse the pun) Kristin Holby plays Penelope Witherspoon. The fiancé of Louis Winthorpe III (played by Dan Akroyd). Kristin has that all American girl beauty but another background actress comes very close to capturing the #4 position. The deciding factor was her lack of lines.

Lucianne Buchanan

She plays the trophy girlfriend of one of the top investors on Wall street. Her character was named “President’s Mistress”. Her real name is Lucianne Buchanan.

3

Maureen O’Hara

Miracle on 34th street gets the nod at the #3 position. She had one advantage over the true beauty from this Christmas classic and that would be her age. Maureen O’Hara, who co-starred with John Payne, was 15 years older than the future wife of Robert Wagner, The beautiful Natalie Wood. Wood played the young girl who wanted to believe in Santa Clause. O’Hara played the single mother in charge of Marketing at Macy’s.

2

Nicolette Scorsese

Christmas Vacation 1989. Ms. Scorsese plays the lingerie girl “Mary” at the department store in Chicago. She also has a semi-topless scene in Clark Griswold’s dream scene towards the end of the movie. Nobody else in this Christmas Classic comes close to the main casting asset of Ms. Scorsese.

1

Marjorie Reynolds

Holiday Inn. 1942. (Born Marjorie Moore)This woman was beautiful. If I could go back in time and meet a woman to fall in love with; It would be Marjorie Reynolds any time of the year. All I can say is just watch the 1942 classic and you’ll understand how her talent is only, but barely, surpassed by her beauty. In the long run, be glad that we have Holiday Inn to remember Ms. Reynolds for. Life was not kind the goddess of the silver screen. Her amazing dancing and singing as well as acting in Holiday Inn did not launch her into the spotlight with Rita Hayworth or Betty Grable. She continued to be a B actress until she retired.

A quote from Ms. Reynolds

It doesn’t overly concern me if I don’t become a superstar. There are more important things for a successful, happy life and career, such as being pleasant, amiable and a decent human being. ~ Marjorie Reynolds

In the late sixties, a band called “Iron Butterfly” released an epic song that took up a whole side of a 33.3RPM Vinyl album. It’s the only LP in history that wore through from one side. This Idea of taking progressive jazz and applying it to “Rock” music seemed appealing to many highly educated Rock musicians that had just graduate from Julliard.

Some critics of this new genre claimed it was rock musicians trying to give legitimacy to Rock and Roll. By the end of the next decade, a band called the Ramones where calling these bands Dinosaurs. Joey and Dee Dee’s claims were that Prog Rock wasn’t Rock. But there was a true following for progressive rock bands and they still exist today.

So without any further delay; Let jump in:

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida – As mentioned above, it is my assertion that this was the mother of Prog Rock. It was prog in its’ rawest form. But it came with a drum solo “Cool”.

Hope – Hope was written and recorded by a cult band in Canada that went by the name of Klaatu. (one of Rock’s coolest names. See the Movie “The Day the Earth Stood Still”). Hope is about a galactic voyage which starts with “We’re off you know” which sound like an incredible Beatles cover. Somewhere in the middle is a movement called “around the Universe in 80 days and it ends with “So said the lighthouse keeper/Hope”. If you ever wanted to hear the Beatles doing heavy metal; Klaatu is worth a look and Hope is their best work.

Dark Side of The Moon –Pink Floyd – Possibly or arguably the best on the list but it doesn’t meet the standards of true prog. I would call this Iconic album progressive blues. But I need not say more.

Brain Salad Surgery – Emerson, Lake and Palmer. When the Beatles were ruling the British pop invasion of the early 60s they had 2 bands nipping at their heels. The Dave Clark five (Which holds the record for appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show) and of course Rock’s greatest Rock band (No I don’t know who gave them that moniker) The Rolling Stones. In the early 70s the owners of a lonely heart had ELP nipping at their heels. Brain Salad Surgery had was a solid legitimate and even commercial prog rock album. Just listen to Karn Evil 9 and you’ll get it.

1.Close to the Edge and Tales from Topographical Oceans were both Tied for #1. The Band YES is the band that you answer with when someone says: “What is Prog Rock”? Let me stress one exception. One major caveat. Yes ceased to be a prog rock band in 1982. With the band in shambles, Drummer Alan White and Bassist Chris Squire found the greatest guitarist on God’s green earth, Trevor Rabin and formed what would have been an 80s band called Cinema. Atlantic records along with Trevor Horn brought Jon Anderson and former Yes Keyboardist Tony Kay back into the new manifestation of YES and they released what would have been a Trevor Rabin’s Solo album and with the release of 90125, YES was reincarnated. The caused major consternation between the true prog fans of YES while new teen aged rock fans were cutting their teeth on the new YES and a hit single called “Owner of a lonely heart”.

In short, if an attorney has information that would free a convicted suspect he can’t mention it. The innocent defendant will rot in prison. Such was the case with William Macumber in 1974 when he was allegedly framed by his wife while going through an ugly divorce.

Yet if you go to your family doctor and say you would rather die than live with tubes coming out of your body, fear your physician as you may return home, only to be greeted by the Police and escorted against your will for a mental evaluation.

William Macumber

The murder of a couple on a “Lover’s Lane” in Arizona north of Scottsdale happened in 1962. The case went cold until Macumber’s wife went to her boss in the Scottsdale P.D. and said (In the middle of an ugly divorce) that he (Macumber) had confessed to her of being the killer of the couple in 1962. This event happened in 1974 just weeks after Macumber’s wife had taken a class on forensics and how to lift prints. To add insult to injury, the evidence was not locked up and anyone with a badge could have tampered with the evidence.

One other piece of evidence Macumber’s defense had was a young girl who claimed to have known who committed the crime. She said it was a guy named Ernesto or Ernie Salazar. No such person could be found. In 1967, five years after the murders in the desert, a drifter named Ernesto Valenzuela was charged with a similar homicide. He told his lawyer, Thomas O’Toole that he had also killed the couple in the desert in 1962.

Thomas O’Toole was fresh out of law school at the time and just beginning a career with the Federal Public Defender’s Office. He thought when he saw the Macumber case: “They have the wrong guy”. But because of attorney-client privilege, he was not allowed to mention the confession and Valenzuela died in prison taking the truth with him.

Apparently, attorney-client privilege extends beyond the grave. 11 years later, O’Toole, no longer a public attorney was a judge and couldn’t shake the ghost of Ernesto Valenzuela. Judge O’Toole contacted the Justice Project and gave them the info he had on the confession of his late client. In 2012, the Justice project had all of the evidence they needed to present their case to the Arizona Governor, Jan Brewer for a Clemency hearing. Brewer rejected Macumber’s release twice. Later in 2012, Macumber agreed to plead guilty to 2nd degree murder and was released on time served. Talk about political wrangling to avoid a major wrongful imprisonment suit. So William Macumber spent 37 years in prison for something he didn’t do.

*Note! I have taken an oath never to plead guilty to something I am innocent of. Even if they promise me a new Ferrari. Never confess to guilt if you are not guilty. The D.A. will use money to get you to “plead out”. If you are accused of beating your wife and you have never laid a hand on your wife, you are given a choice to fight it in court costing you every penny you’ll ever earn for the rest of your life, OR you can plead guilty and take an anger management class and lose your 2nd amendment right for 10 years. Although you and God know that you are innocent, you will have that guilty plea follow you through life like an albatross. Do not do it.

Let’s continue:

Not surprising, the story doesn’t end there. 5 months later Macumber was back in prison for sexual assault accusations by younger members of Macumber’s own family. I can only wonder; Is this the spouse still trying to keep her ex-husband behind bars or does prolonged incarceration create the criminal? Macumber plead not guilty of the sex assaults but was found guilty at trial and is serving 4 years for sexual assault on a minor.

David Sarti

David Sarti’s only crime was trusting his doctor. Just as we have attorney-client privilege, we are also supposed to have doctor-patient privilege. (With a caveat). The doctor has the discretion/power to deem his patient mentally defective and a danger to himself. If this happens, you lose your 2nd amendment right and can be detained in a mental institute as long as medical professionals see fit. No judge, no jury and no public defendant. You also become an interest of the F.B.I. as long as you live.

Sadly Sarti had appeared on National Geographic’s television series “Doomsday Preppers”. Sarti is a boisterous somewhat loudmouth that likes to exaggerate and he did so in front of the wrong doctor. His cardiologist Andre C. Olivier said there was nothing wrong with his heart, but they could put tubes in him to help him breathe. I’m not sure what procedure Dr. Olivier was referring to. I can’t see why he would recommend a tracheostomy for obesity. Neither lungs were collapsed so I can’t see chest tubes being inserted in Sarti’s plural cavity. Perhaps his cardiologist was using fear to get Mr. Sarti to lose weight. I do not know what Olivier’s reasoning was. But Sarti made a statement that was not very well thought out. He said something to the effect that he would rather die than have tubes hanging out of him. Dr. Olivier took this as a confession of suicidal tendencies and ordered Sarti to go to the Emergency Room.

Let’s Stop right here. Sarti’s doctor asked Sarti if he was suicidal and Sarti replied: “No I’m a Christian and my religious faith prohibits suicide”. That should have been the end of the conversation.

Regardless; when Sarti refused to go to the Emergency Room and went home; Law enforcement officers were waiting for Mr. Sarti and took him to the E.R. against his will.

Where is the privacy called Physician-patient privilege?

The horror in the Sarti story is not so much what happened to David Sarti. (At least he’s not in prison serving a life sentence) But what has happened to all of us as a result of this? I seriously encourage you to no longer speak freely to your doctor without thinking about the unintended consequences. You MUST consider every sentence and your choice of words that you use when you are in the privacy of your doctor regardless of the Doctor-Patient privilege. I do not think it would be a good Idea to continue to see a doctor you do not have a good relationship with. I would not make an issue of it either. I would silently quit seeing your doctor and search for another doctor.

In both of these examples of privacy, the principle was used to keep an innocent man in jail, and to send an innocent man to a mental institution. The words of a former, late President keep haunting me.

“The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help. ~ PresidentRonald Reagan.

It was one long night and one I wish I could forget. I had just finished a “bar gig”. It was my 3rd to last “bar gig” before I moved up to the big times. (Opening for people like Clint Black). Unfortunately, that’s as famous as my “Almost Famous” career took me. But I’ll not cry about water under the bridge, but speaking of Water……

I had played my ass off and was tired at 3 in the morning. Bar gigs (performances) are no fun. Sure you get free drinks and sexual proposals, but you quickly outgrow that. The bad part is the work that you don’t see. Bar bands don’t have road crews. So you need to load and unload the van. So a 9 to 1 show is really a 7 to 3 show because set up and break down takes about 2 hours. (The drive is also an extra hour or so)

Setting up isn’t just plugging in your guitar cord and microphones, but rather taping down your cords so nobody ends up in the Emergency Room. (That’s another story for another day) But it includes a sound check, lights, monitors etc… This is time consuming and if it’s not done right, the rhythm guitarist will drown everyone out all night until the club manager comes up and say: “All we can hear is your strummer”. Breaking down can be quicker, but you do so at the risk of ruining your expensive cords. You really need to take your time when putting your stuff away. Most musicians put their cables in a place that will make it easy to get to the next time you set up. (Lots of Rubbermaid bins)

Thus you have the extra two hours coming and going.

I had found that if you “get your shit and get gone” at the end of your performance, the police will not bother you. I also had a bad habit (back then) of having a Heineken and a shot of “Corazon” Tequila at midnight. That’s two ounces of alcohol. I always felt that if I was playing hard during that last hour, then working to put my stuff away, the alcohol would be gone by the time I got behind the wheel. And like I said, most PDs will leave the band alone because they don’t want the responsibility of 40,000 dollars’ worth of gear, plus they don’t want to be accused of driving off business in remote areas.

I was tired that one night and after loading my gear into my van, I took a break and had a glass of “Ice water” and just sat in a booth to relax. This put me into the “DUI” hours of the night. Sure enough I got pulled over by the CHIPs. They made me blow and I came up at .069. (or so I was told) I think .07 was legally drunk. I could go into a rant about making a hard working guitarist pretend to be a ballerina on the side of the road, but the next thing I knew, (and I still don’t think this was legal) I was at the CHP Satellite station where they had more accurate testing means. Oh, and hand cuffed to a bench. Since they had a responsibility to protect my gear, they didn’t want to take me to the tank, but they also were upset because I wasn’t legally drunk.

By this time it’s 4 in the morning. The sun is peeking over the hill. I’m sober and hungry yet still in cuffs. They had the nerve to ask me if I wanted to volunteer my blood at 4 in the morning. They said if you can call someone to come get you we’ll let you go. My ride who knew nothing about the area got lost trying to find the cop shop in their sleep and it was creeping up on 5 AM and the new shift was coming on. So they were taking me to the drunk tank and as we pulled out of the CHP station my ride arrived. We went and had a sandwich at an all-night grocery store, came back and got the van and drove 85 miles home. The county D.A. refused to press charges.

Yesterday, 22 January 2015, I wrote about the paradigm shift from the “Greatest Generation” the generation that fought WWII; up through today’s. The children of the 60s, many of whom grew up as part of the “Counter-Culture” are in positions of major importance today. Example: Barack Hussein Obama. His parents and mentor were communists and Muslims.

(Hey I didn’t make up his name) Furthermore, at one point he changed his name to Barry Soetoro. So why did he change it back to a name of Muslim Origin? Was it to be cool with the other black kids? That is the one adjective that the counter culture clings to as their claim to achievement; they’re cool.

Unfortunately, the cool kids were easy to beat up in school. The cool kids usually cut class and went golfing, err, I mean smoked dope, err, I mean hung out. Yeah that’s it. As does Barack Hussein Obama. How did he do in the world of Academia? Who knows? He’s had his school records sealed and will not allow them to be made public. After six years, you can tell when the cool kid hasn’t studied for his S.A.T. exam. Ours is failing badly (figuratively speaking as president). But he still governs on coolness. He’s appeared on more television shows than he has in front of congress. When he does appear on TV shows, he treated like a cool teddy bear. While the whole time he’s on “The View” Russia is invading the Ukraine and Iran is polishing their new ICBM missiles. When he’s golfing; ISIS is beheading Americans and he’s smiling for photo ops.

That’s the Macro view.

Let’s look at how the “cool parents” have raised their offspring. I’ll give you one name: Michael Brown. Do you want another? Trayvon Martin! It’s no wonder teens are ending up dead. They’ve developed a “You can’t touch me” attitude from their big role model the Manchurian President himself.

It was Bush that made me ruin the country.

It was the Republicans that wouldn’t let me get things done.

Hey Barry, you had Harry Reid doing your dirty work in the Senate for 6 years) Did you know that over 300 house bills are sitting in the congress that Harry Reid would not allow to come to vote? Now like the spoiled little failure that he is (I won 2 elections) all he can say is: “I’ll veto whatever I do not like”. But he’s gone so narcissistic that even Democrats are yelling at him.

After a year in office, I believe it was Charles Krauthammer who said: “He’s obviously in over his head”. By the way, the president won two elections. Republicans have won about 300 since he’s been in office.

The old Democrat in me (whom I fed to the lions in 1980) really hates what this inner circle of liberals have done to the DNC. John F. Kennedy would have been called a Hater by Whoopi Goldberg if he were alive and running in 2016. (That’s if you can remember that whole thing with Cuba and Russian missiles aimed at the U.S. or US.

Just as Hitler had his inner circle; so does Obama. Instead of Himmler, Göring, and Göebles; we have Jaret, Pelosi and Reid. Hitler’s henchmen were evil, perhaps more evil than Hitler. Obama’s lackeys are stooges. Only more dangerous than Larry, Moe and Curly.

I use to hear a term in the 70s when Carter established the federal department of education in October of 1979. Go back even further to the 60s when LBJ proclaimed his “War on poverty”.

The term? “The Dumbing Down of America”.

It started with the crap that was being shown on television. Although tame by today’s standards, shows like Three’s company were the beginning of the end of mores in America.

MORES (pronounced Mor-ays)

Plural noun, Sociology

1. Folkways of central importance accepted without question and embodying the fundamental moral views of a group.

It seemed harmless at the time, but soon we would have “The Housewives of” (fill in the city).

Enter a wretched form of entertainment called Rap. A pontificating uneducated asshole’s dream that defines women as nothing more than sex objects, and glorifies gang violence. It used to be (in the ghetto) that if you wanted to be something, you had to be tall and shoot hoops. (Or join a gang) Now, it’s be a rapper and join a gang. Again yet another form of the dumbing down of America.

But it doesn’t take much to see that Manchurian Politics has forced the private market to hire people that should not be working. To quote “Green Jobs Czar & self-proclaimed Communist” Van Jones “Yall gonna have to give Pookie a job”.

Well Pookie got a job and now Pookie steals my mail. An institution that use to pride its’ self on delivering the mail (or Post for you across the pond) is now stealing the mail. Pookie steals my credit card number at the department store. Pookie steals my Social Security number at the Bank. Pookie steals with impunity.

What inspired me to write this vapid article on attrition? I’ve noticed in the last 5 (maybe 10)years that I’ve had to show extra patience at check-out stands while Juanita is doing the “English to Spanish translation” in her head, then hoping that she hits the right keys on her register or waiting for Shenequa who is waiting for the cash register to tell her how much change I get when the price is $4.99 and I hand her a $5.00 bill.

Recently I ordered a custom made calendar for 2015. It came with the title saying 2015 on the front (as I designed it that way) yet it came printed on last year’s 2014 calendar. So I call and get Pookie on the phone. Pookie says “Dat cool, I take care of it”. I got another 2014 calendar 11 days later. Finally I called back and got someone named John that spoke professionally who said: “I’m sorry sir, I’ll take care of that for you. It came correctly two days later.

Along with patience, you now have to “double” or even “triple check” everything that you do. When I call and make an appointment, a week in advance I call to make sure it’s still on the books. When I order something, I always check to see if it has been shipped. When I take down information over the phone I always say: “OK, let me read this back to you to make sure we’re both in the same queue on this”. When someone says: “That will get shipped out tomorrow” and I need it quickly, I’ll call and ask if it got shipped out.

The most important word in the daily performance of life is “CONFIRMATION”.

What I’m saying is the age of a dumbed down America is here. I fear that soon it will be gone. Not the age of stupidity but America. Do you know what they call a country that has uneducated proletariats working in the masses?

Communism.

The American Experiment was founded on sacrifice, hard work, dedication and honesty (only back then they called it Godliness). We inherited a fine country. It was a fine working, well-tuned machine. And to this day, the only one of its’ kind. 1 in a series of 1. Then we gave the keys to the Ferrari to a bunch of drunk Teenagers. Those who were allowed jobs without the ability to read found their place of employment a fine place to steal. Sloth and crime has replaced the work ethic. If you don’t work for something you can’t enjoy it. Political correctness has allowed termites to enter the woodwork of societies all over the world.

This thing called Rock and Roll had become mainstream. Not elevator music mainstream, or Challenge Butter commercial mainstream, but every kid was letting his hair grow and learning to play guitar. Instead of a red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas; It was a Silver Tone guitar from the Sears Catalog. These kids dressed in flamboyant paisley clothing, and some college drop outs took to communism. The outcasts that had no guidance or the grades to go to college went to a hot place called Vietnam. But 1968 was a year before Woodstock and a year after the Summer of Love. Many young kids who were born in 1950 were confused. Should I be a hero like my dad was in Korea or the Beaches of Normandy, or should I sing “Give Peace a Chance” and shout at the White House: “Hell no we won’t go”

1975

This thing called Rock and Roll was still not main stream but it was becoming as profitable as the Military Industrial Complex. In the summer of 1975, a handsome Brit nobody had ever heard of (He was the other guy in the rock band Humble Pie whom most Americans only heard of after this young man toured America). When Peter Frampton started touring America on the coat tails of David Cassidy, his “Frampton Comes Alive” album became the biggest selling LIVE album of all time. It changed this thing called Rock and Roll forever. This thing called Rock and Roll became a Multimillion dollar Industry. In 1975 another young Brit guitarist name Brian May was a year away from getting his degree in Astrophysics. He dropped out and spent the next 12 years touring with one of history’s most successful Rock Bands ever ~ Queen! “These kids today”.

1981

August 1st, A new TV Channel changed this thing called Rock and Roll forever. MTV did indeed kill the Radio Star. So ugly musicians were no longer players as music had become a beauty contest with a soundtrack. In 1981 we saw the beginning of the neo-con movement. The leftist mainstream media was coming out with TV shows that put down the Yuppie. The Hippie form the 60’s was either a failure or a faculty member at UC Berkeley.

Now the Country was seeing the rise of the Yuppie. This was a reverse paradigm from the 60s. Just as Bob Dylan’s folk music was being replaced by songs like Bohemian Rhapsody, young high school kids about to graduate were watching sitcoms like Family Ties which had a young High School kid (played by Michael J. Fox) who was supposed to be liberal Hollywood’s conservative antagonist. But times were changing and making big money was becoming to the 19 – 25 demographics. Shows like Miami vice showed young guys driving Lamborghinis in cool white linen blazers. So in the 80s, there was this polarization of the kids of the 80s. Soon the 80s became known as the decade of greed. (by Hollywood) Yet Family Ties’ ratings soared. It made a mega-star out of Michael J. Fox who went on to do Spielberg’s “Back to the future” Trilogy. Hair was getting shorter and bands like “Huey Lewis and the News” were sporting business cuts.

One real game changer that kids of the 80s had to deal with was the true birth of technology. (And cool Sneakers)

1994

These kids had come to a true bifurcation in the road. It was the biggest polarizing era for “These kids today”. Not only did you have to learn English and math, but you now had to learn something called HTML Yes the computer ushered in the new age. I’m not talking about meditation and gurus or as they’re called now: “Personal coaches”. But this thing called the Internet. The internet has been one of, if not the biggest “game changer” in this country. The internet and the computer divided America into two groups. Those who were computer literate and those who couldn’t tell how to boot up a system. But when the internet got large enough so that kids could play games with other kids in other states or even countries, it was an incentive for kids to take the time to learn how to configure systems and move to the next level in evolution. On the other hand, those who were not incentivized by the new one eyed monster had something new to steal. If you didn’t have computer skills let alone a computer; you were an outcast. This was OK for grandma and maybe Rock Stars that were never sober enough to understand code. But the Internet would change life as the world knew it. The first casualty of the internet era were record stores. The biggest casualty of the internet was the post office as advanced countries shifted over to Email. Newspapers and TV reporting has been replaced the “blogosphere”. Hardly any home has the old fashion “Land line”. And the mall is now just a risky place to hang out as you can buy all the cool stuff on the “net”. I ask you: “what will become of our society if we have a coronal mass ejection the likes of a Carrington Event or some 3rd world fanatical country is able to explode a nuke in our atmosphere causing an electro magnetic pulse”?

2007

These kids of today and their gadgets. On June 29th 2007 Apple released the first IPhone. Also known as the smart phone, this was a “Pocket computer” as well as a telephone. The wireless home phone of the 70s became the car phone that only the wealthy could afford in the 80s. In the 90s, companies like Nokia introduced a phone that was “Mobile”. They were originally called PCDs, or personal communication devices. Since they operated within cell towers, they were called “Cell phones”. This enabled business people to call the office without buying the car phone or step out into the hall to check for messages at the office. As the price of cell phone technology came down, everybody had to have a cellphone.

Apple took the technology of the computer and miniaturized it so it would fit into the palm of your hand. Now, not only could you call the office but you could check this new thing called Email. The evolution of the Cell Phone turned it into what became the smart phone. It became a computer that you carried in your shirt pocket. Although the smart phone revolutionized information in the 21st century, another “creature” was spawned. Social Media. Social media has been used by political campaigns as well as terrorists to organize attacks. Along with social media came a new device called texting. It was a way to send a short sentence to someone else who had texting capabilities on their phone. As convenient as texting can be, it has been responsible for thousands of deaths. Studies show that texting while driving is more dangerous than driving drunk. But it doesn’t stop at driving. Kids and adults can’t help but read texts messages while walking across the street or walking in a parking lot. If both driver and pedestrian are texting, well, you do the math.

As much as technology has influenced the evolution of man, silently it is doing more to de-evolution mankind. People no longer know how to write using complete words. IDK about these kids today. If ur 1 of doz dat git dis; I feel sorry 4U. These kids of today.

One last observation. In China they have computer gaming parlors. They’re much like the Japanese Pachinko parlors and part casino only you don’t win. In the last three weeks, on two separate occasions, adults, one 32 and one 39 died while going on a three day “Gaming” binge. It’s a new phenomenon, my guess is they had pulmonary embolisms that caused their heart attacks.